Articles

New report shows the conservation benefits of regulating endangered and threatened species differently

April 26, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This week, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) published The Road to Recovery: How restoring the Endangered Species Act’s two-step process can prevent extinction and promote recovery. In that report, I explain how returning to Congress’ original design for the Endangered Species Act—according to which the statute&# ...

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Weekly litigation report — April 7, 2018

April 07, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

Department of Interior proposes repeal of illegal and counterproductive Endangered Species Act regulation Landowners and some conservationists have long complained about a decision made decades ago by the Fish & Wildlife Service to regulate “threatened” species the exact same as “endangered” species. This has diverted cr ...

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How should one measure the Endangered Species Act's performance?

March 14, 2017 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Property rights and other groups that seek reform of the Endangered Species Act oftentimes note that only a tiny fraction of the species that have been listed under the Act have recovered. Environmentalists typically respond that a recovery metric is not a good way to measure the Act’s performance. A good example of this defense, … ...

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Environmental extremists dismiss property rights

November 25, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Over on the Huffington Post, Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity launches an over-the-top broadside against several people involved in the incoming President’s administration. The part that is most illuminating about how some extremists think is this missive directed at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Myron Ebel ...

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The Center for Biological Diversity goes batty

February 15, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Center for Biological Diversity is threatening to sue the Fish & Wildlife Service for not imposing ruinous and unnecessary restrictions on private property owners throughout 37 states to protect the Northern long-eared bat. It contends that heavy-handed “take” regulations should be imposed despite the fact that the species is th ...

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More polar bear analysis

March 01, 2013 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the DC Circuit’s opinion today upholding the polar bear listing relies mainly on the principle of deference to administrative decision-making that is at the so-called “frontiers of science.”  But I think it also fair to say that the court misconstrued or simply misunderstood what PLF’s mai ...

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DC Circuit upholds polar bear listing

March 01, 2013 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Earlier today, in In re: Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing & Section 4(d) Rule Litigation, a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the United States Fish and Widlife Service’s decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the ESA.  (Pacific Legal Foundation represents several of the plain ...

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Polar bear rule issued

February 21, 2013 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Earlier this week, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service reissued a rule under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act, allowing the “take” of polar bear.  The District of Columbia federal district court had overturned a prior version on the ground that the Service had failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Ac ...

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Polar bear listing upheld – but court gets it wrong!

June 30, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper In May, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act.  This resulted in a number of challenges by environmental groups, the State of Alaska, conservation groups, and Pacific Legal Foundation representing farmers, land owners, as well as ...